Cheap Heat: What makes a great faction?

A few weeks ago on Monday Night Raw, the Wyatt Family made its long-anticipated debut, attacking Kane and leaving him unable to compete in the Money in the Bank All-Stars match. On last week’s episode, the group attacked R-Truth, which was even more unexpected than the attack on Kane, mostly because no realized that R-Truth was still on the roster.

Either way, the group has already begun making their mark with a debut that, in many ways, mirrors that of The Shield, another group of up-and-coming wrestlers who targeted established guys in order to make a name for themselves.

In fact, in the six months since The Shield debuted, the group has taken out everyone from The Undertaker to, most recently, Mark Henry, accumulating the Tag Team titles and the United States Championship along the way.

While the debuts of the Wyatt Family and The Shield have been impressive, at least so far, the road to pro wrestling immortality is littered with hot starters and flashes in the pan that peter out before fading into oblivion.

Just three years ago, a group of unheralded guys formed The Nexus and made one of the most memorable debuts in recent memory by destroying the arena, John Cena, and everyone at ringside in an attack so brutal that Daniel Bryan was real-life fired for choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his necktie.

(The popular theory behind the firing is that attack greatly angered toy manufacturer Mattel, which believes that the company should market itself to a younger audience in order to move product and is a driving force behind the WWE’s move to more family-friendly entertainment.)

After that hot start, though, the Nexus slowly began to fade into mediocrity, eventually splitting into two equally uninspiring factions and almost exactly one year later, after a brief death rattle with new leader CM Punk, the Nexus was disbanded.

That group was filled to the gills with talent, including the aforementioned Bryan, former Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, current Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, The Ryback, and even the leader of The Wyatt Family, Bray Wyatt. That individual talent does not always translate into success as a group. (Although sometimes it does)

Long story short, if someone were to compile a list of the top groups in wrestling history, The Nexus would not appear on that list. But what groups would appear on that list? Where is the bar to be considered a historically great faction?

As the most laudable pro wrestling columnist in the history of this fine daily, I feel it is my job, nay, my responsibility, to find out just exactly where that bar rests.

And with that, here are, in ascending order, the four greatest factions in the history of pro wrestling.

4. Degeneration XD-X was formed in late 1997 after WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and Triple H, then known as Hunter Hearst-Helmsley, were forced to team up by Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter in a match against the Undertaker and Mankind (Mick Foley). The match ended in a scrum but the partnership between the two men became the stuff of legend, due in equal parts to their zany antics and in-ring talents.

After Michaels temporarily retired following Wrestlemania XIV, he was replaced by X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and the Road Dogg) and the antics, as well as the success, continued.

Had the group aged gracefully, there would be an argument for the greatest faction of all time. However, that did not happen and they stayed together well beyond their viability, even reforming several times after Shawn Michaels’ broken back had sufficient time to heal.

Because 40-year-old men making fart jokes is just so awesome.

Even though the later years of D-X tarnished the legacy of the group, the initial impact of the faction cannot be overstated and because of that, Degeneration X clearly belongs among the greatest factions in the history of wrestling.

3. New World OrderIn what is a theme in pro wrestling, the New World Order is another group that went back to the green one time too many and ultimately tarnished the legacy of the product.

When the New World Order, or nWo, was initially formed during the summer of 1996, it completely changed the business.

Kevin Nash and Scott Hall had jumped from the WWF to WCW and the latter began a storyline where it appeared that Hall and Nash were still contracted by the WWF and were planning on overtaking WCW.

At Bash at the Beach ’96, the so-called Outsiders were taking on the best that WCW had to offer in a battle for the soul of the company. And it was at that moment that the Outsiders became the New World Order. Hulk Hogan, one of the greatest good guys in history, made one of the most shocking heel turns (going from good guy to bad guy) in the history and outraged the fans so much that those in attendance literally filled the ring with garbage.

And with that, the WCW began to overtake the WWF as the top wrestling company in the world.

For a few short months, there was nothing that was ever bigger than the nWo. Then, “big” became the key word.

By the end of their run, basically every wrestler in WCW spent time in the nWo, which grew so big that it had to split into two separate entities.

Although the New World Order became a huge joke, its initial impact cannot be overstated and because of that, here it sits.

2. The Four HorsemenWhat? This must be a typo. The Four Horsemen have to be the greatest group in history. I mean, if enough people say it, it has to be true? Right? RIGHT???

Wrong. Because we can’t ignore the times when WCW would dust off the name and restart the group with dignitaries such as Steve “Mongo” McMichael and Lex Luger, just like we couldn’t ignore the reincarnations of the nWo and D-X, the Four Horsemen is merely a great group but not the greatest of all time.

Even if we could ignore the “Mongo” years, the Four Horsemen would still fall just short of the top stop.

Like I said in the introduction, great talent does not always equal a great group. But sometimes it does.

Ric Flair, the de facto leader of the Four Horsemen, belongs on any list of the greatest wrestlers of all time. But Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, while great in-ring talents, never quite had the “it” factor to be legitimate top-of-the-card guys and Ole Anderson is a name that only the most seasoned wrestling fan would remember.

Yes, as a group, the Four Horsemen were impressive but when talking about the greatest of all time, the parts need to be as impressive as the whole. And when they’re not, that group simply cannot be the greatest.

1. EvolutionEvolution had it all. They had style. They had pedigree (no pun intended). They had bloodlines. And, most importantly, they had talent.

When Triple H formed Evolution in early 2003, he was still the big dog in the company. Ric Flair was something of a part-time performer and Randy Orton and Batista were just beginning to cut their teeth in the business. In the brief, two-year run of the group, every member held at least one major championship and for one stretch in 2004, the group held every major title that the WWE had to offer.

Since their breakup eight years ago, which only came about because of the individual success of the members, every member of Evolution has had multiple world title reigns and for their careers, the four members have been world champions an unreal 44 times.

Success as a group. Success as individuals. A legacy that is still talked about. Simply put, Evolution is the greatest group of all time.